Tagger’s Slayer Won’t Be Charged : Violence: Prosecutors say he was acting in self-defense. He gets outpouring of support from the public, but dead man’s family say they are outraged.

In a case that tapped into widespread public loathing of graffiti vandals, prosecutors Thursday decided not to file charges against a Sun Valley man for killing an 18-year-old tagger, calling the killing justifiable self-defense.

William Andrew Masters II, 35, who shot one tagger to death and wounded another, walked free from the Van Nuys jail, although he may still face misdemeanor charges of illegally carrying a concealed handgun.

The shooting was “a lawful killing” because Masters reasonably believed that “he was in imminent peril” as he faced the two taggers--one carrying a screwdriver--in a midnight confrontation Tuesday under a freeway overpass in a desolate part of Sun Valley, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen said.

“We have to go by what the law requires,” said Cohen, who reviewed the case. “A killing is not illegal if a person is in honest and reasonable fear for his own safety.”

Consequently, it would have been difficult to secure a conviction, Cohen said.

Masters agreed in an interview after his release: “Where are you going to find 12 citizens to convict me?” he asked.

Police and prosecutors said they were overwhelmed by dozens of calls from graffiti-haters supporting Masters. Attorneys volunteered to represent him, other residents offered money for a possible defense fund, and one man showed up at the jail, saying that he wanted to take Masters to dinner for performing a “profound service to the community.”

Cohen showed a reporter a thick wad of messages that he said were mostly from the public, supporting Masters, but denied that the outpouring had any effect on his office’s decision not to press charges. “We didn’t do it to make the public happy,” Cohen said.

The decision stunned and outraged the family and friends of Cesar Rene Arce of Arleta, the tagger Masters killed, and drew protests from David Hillo, 20, of North Hollywood, whom Masters wounded in the buttock.

“Does this mean we can carry a gun and shoot anybody and just laugh at justice?” asked Veronica Ramirez, Arce’s cousin.

“My family’s hurting right now,” said his sister, Lilia Arce.

Since it is a misdemeanor to carry a concealed handgun without a license, Cohen said Masters’ case will be reviewed by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, which prosecutes lesser crimes.

Masters, a bit-part actor, was on his customary late-night stroll on a lonely stretch of Arleta Boulevard when he encountered Arce and Hillo spray-painting graffiti on the support columns where the Hollywood Freeway passes over the street. According to Hillo, he and Arce saw Masters write down the license plate number of their car, and they approached him, demanding that he give it up.

Hillo conceded that he was carrying a screwdriver but said he was not using it as a weapon. He said he carried it to use as a climbing aid in scaling traffic sign poles.

On Thursday, Cohen quoted Hillo as saying that although he and Arce were not gang members, they were dressed in gang-style attire and were only an arm’s length from Masters when Masters fired.

Masters has not publicly discussed what happened Tuesday. But a screenwriter working with Masters on a script said his colleague told him that the graffiti confrontation swiftly became a robbery attempt. Masters related that Arce demanded his wallet, said Leo Bertucelli, 45, and it was at that point that Masters opened fire with his 9-millimeter handgun.

Hillo has denied there was any attempt to rob Masters.

Masters, the son of a bicycle repairman and the fourth of seven children, grew up in Holyoke, Mass., where he enjoyed singing in the school choir and playing chess and where his father taught him to shoot a gun, his older sister Linda said Thursday.

She said Masters had a penchant for martial arts and collecting antique swords.

When she was told of her brother’s case, she lamented: “He did something that was none of his business--as usual.” But later she and other family members expressed relief that he was set free.

After he graduated from high school, Masters moved to Boston. He then attended college in Austin, Tex.

In 1981, Masters was arrested for carrying two martial arts swords in his belt on a public street, Austin police said.

Masters waged a lengthy court battle, arguing that he had a right as a U.S. citizen to carry the weapons. But in 1985, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas let stand his conviction. It could not be immediately determined how the case was disposed of.